American Experience

The life of Kennedy patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy is the subject of this episode.

For the three Kennedy sons (John, Robert, Ted) it was the story of triumph followed by tragedy. Their political careers from 1961-80 are detailed in this episode.

Tragic tale of families attempting a short-cut passage to California in the 1840s, with narration of their life-and-death struggle taken from their own journals.

They were African-American soldiers. They were inducted into a rigidly segregated army. They trained in white America. Their commanders never intended to send them into battle, and yet African-American soldiers fought through six European countries into the heart of the most violently racist empire the world has ever known. The victims of nazi terror would never forget them.

The life and achievements of Washington - as a British colonist, American general, and first President of the United States.

The historic battle discussed from the perspective of both sides that participated in the conflict.

The story of "march king" John Philip Sousa and the connections between his music and the mood of the nation during his time.

Growing resistance to segregation, the Supreme Court decision to end it, and the life of Thurgood Marshall.

The short but notable career of the coach and his team with stories from some of those who remember him.

The story of Walter Reuther and the struggle to unionize the automobile workers of the US in the 1930s.

Her 1963 warnings about the effects of pesticides and herbicides - especially DDT - sparked a revolution in environmental policy and created a new ecological consciousness.

Goin’ Back to T-Town tells the story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s and 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation. Torn apart in 1921 by one of the worst racially-motivated massacres in the nation’s history, the neighborhood rose from the ashes, and by 1936 boasted the largest concentration of Black-owned businesses in the U.S., known as “Black Wall Street.” Ironically, it could not survive the progressive policies of integration and urban renewal of the 1960s. Told through the memories of those who lived through the events, the film is a bittersweet celebration of small-town life and the resilience of a community’s spirit.